Although many may be surprised at the growth of homeschooling during the past few decades, the real surprise is probably how that growth happened and that it continues. Home school advocates and practitioners have succeeded despite a lack of funding, recruiting efforts, publicity, and grant money from philanthropic billionaires. They have faced…

Between 1950 and 1980 surveys of academic sociologists revealed a major shift in the relative ratings of the top six Sociology departments. Wisconsin rose from a distant sixth to being rated first or second. Harvard and Columbia dropped from first and second the rankings to as low as sixth seventh. Underlying these trajectories were a variety of…

Historical memory is constantly being reframed though images and objects presented as capturing the past. In the USA, the nineteenth-century country or one-room school has come to symbolize an authentic American experience and seen as evidence of the lost pure and simpler time. Central to the work of the rural school was the teacher, and in the…

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states that is often recognized as a leader in public education, and for good reason. The Commonwealth consistently outperforms most states on national reading and math tests and often leads the pack in education innovations. "Starting Young: Massachusetts Birth-3rd Grade Policies that Support Children's…

The demography of public school enrollment continues to change dramatically, with students of color comprising an increasing proportion of the whole. As such, suburbia, with both White and non-White students, is a place in which integration is more possible in the beginning of the 21st century. Due to the intertwined nature of how these factors…

Bridgewater State University (BSU) is a public institution that falls under the Carnegie classification of Master's Colleges and Universities. BSU is committed to serving students in the New England region. This student population includes a sizeable number of underrepresented students. BSU is dealing with intense pressure to serve these students…

The perspectives of graduates offer a valuable source of understanding for educators and policy-makers on how to ensure high quality educational pathways that prepare all students for work and college. Based on in-depth interviews with graduates from three Boston Public Schools with well-established performance-based assessment systems, the study…

High-stakes testing has emerged as a central feature of the educational landscape in primary and secondary schools in the United States. Despite this prominence, there is a paucity of guidance available to practitioners on how they can best make predictions about student performance based on available test data. While achievement gaps based on…

This report focuses on the business operations of 24 charter schools in Massachusetts. The legislation authorizing the establishment of public charter-school in Massachusetts stipulated that a study of these schools' operations, practices, and activities must be conducted. The information gathered in the review came from the Massachusetts…

An evaluation of the second year of services of the Massachusetts Adult Education with Homeless Persons Project documented different program models evolving out of diversely defined partnerships between adult education organizations and shelters for homeless people. Site visits to all nine programs and subsequent profiles were supplemented with…

This report examines arts participation in the ten largest metropolitan areas in the United States using data from the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. These data indicate that, in general, these metropolitan regions tend to be more alike than different with respect to arts participation patterns. Analysis reveals that while…

This case study of the battle over public school education in Lowell (Massachusetts) chronicles the process of change taking place there, partly as a result of the emerging role of Southeast Asian parents who, in coalition with Latino parents, are demanding educational access and equity for their children. The following sections are included: (1)…